Systems, methods and computer program products for monitoring the behavior, health, and/or characteristics of an animal

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and computer code products for monitoring the behavior, health, and/or characteristics of an animal are disclosed herein. In one implementation, the animal is positioned inside a waste container placed on a system that is adapted to determine, record and communicate over a network various animal health parameters. These parameters can be processed to determine trends, statistics and changes of animal physiological functions. The results can be used to access animal health conditions and issue warnings, alarms, messages, and other notifications to designated caretakers. These notifications may be displayed using various means such as computers and/or mobile devices. Data retrieval and review capability can provide improved understanding of an animal&#39;s health conditions and facilitate early illness detection.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/481,605 titled “SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FORMONITORING THE BEHAVIOR, HEALTH, AND/OR CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ANIMAL”,filed May 25, 2012 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/490,635, titled “SYSTEM,METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING ANIMAL HEALTH”, filed May 27, 2011,both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety forall purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of animal health and behaviormonitoring, and more particularly, systems, methods, and computerprogram products for determining, monitoring, processing, recording, andtransferring over a network various physiological and behavioralparameters of animals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is animals' natural instinct to hide any signs of weakness, illnessand disease, and animals do this very well. In nature, weak animals arean easy prey for predators, or an easy target for their peers, competingover food resources, leadership or mates. Household pets and companionanimals are not different from wild animals in this respect: they alsohide signs of weakness, illness and disease. For this reason, signs ofdisease in animals frequently go unnoticed for some time, until thedisease progresses to more advanced stages and signs of disease becomemore severe and observable. Early detection of diseases always leads tothe best chance of recovery, as stated by veterinarian doctors.

Presently available approaches for companion animal health monitoring donot include continuous automated quantitative methods and means butrather rely on qualitative observations by animal owners and caretakersand periodic or intermittent veterinarian exams. One of the quantitativemeans for companion animal health monitoring is periodically weighing onweighing scales and recording the result and comparing with the resultof previous weighings such as weighing at home or at a veterinarianoffice.

Such manual approaches are cumbersome and do not provide timely accessto animal health characteristics, the weighing takes place mostlyirregularly, not sufficiently frequent and lacks consistency in weighingand tracking changes in body weight on a periodic basis such as daily.Also, manual processes are prone to inaccuracies, incompleteness andloss of data; furthermore, keeping the animal steady on a weighing scaleduring the weighing is challenging because the animal, which has beenforced onto the weighing scale, is naturally trying to move around, oreven step off or jump off of the weighing scale.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention include systems, methods and computerprogram products for monitoring the behavior, health, and/orcharacteristics of an animal. The embodiments can include a sensorconfigured to detect the presence (including absence by recording theanimal's arrival and departure times) of the animal; a measuring deviceconfigured to measure a characteristic of the animal whenever presenceof the animal is detected; and a storage device configured to store themeasured characteristics of the animal. Additionally, processor can beincluded and configured to calculate derived data from the measuredcharacteristics.

The storage device can be further configured to store threshold alertdata and wherein the system can further comprise a processor configuredto compare a measured characteristic and/or derived data to the storedthreshold alert data and to send an alert when the measuredcharacteristic or derived data crosses the threshold alert data. Themeasured characteristic can be: the animal's weight; the weight of theanimal's waste; the weight of a platform before the presence of theanimal was detected; the combined weight of the platform and the animalafter the presence of the animal was detected; the weight of a platformafter the departure of the animal was detected; the weight of the foodconsumed by the animal; the weight of the water consumed by the animal;the date when presence of the animal is detected; the time when presenceof the animal is detected; the time when departure of the animal isdetected; the duration of time between detection of the presence of theanimal and the departure of the animal; or another characteristic. Thederived data can be: the daily frequency with which presence of theanimal is detected; the cumulative daily weight of the animal's waste;the cumulative daily weight of the food consumed by the animal; thecumulative daily weight of the water consumed by the animal; the averagedaily weight of the animal; the maximum and the minimum daily weight ofthe animal; the cumulative daily duration of time between each detectionof the presence of the animal and the departure of the animal; theaverage, maximum and minimum rates of food and water consumption,expressed in weight of food and water consumed per unit of time; thecumulative daily number of times the presence of the animal is detected;the amount of time since the last time presence of the animal isdetected; the average daily time interval between instances wherepresence of animal is detected; or another piece of derived data. Thesystem can also include an identification sensor configured to identifythe animal from a plurality of animals after presence of the animal isdetected. The system can be a stand-alone apparatus or can have remoteprocessing in the cloud

Further features of the present invention, its nature and variousadvantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and thefollowing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary animal behavior,health and/or characteristic monitoring system, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a graphical illustration of an exemplary animal behavior,health, and/or characteristics monitoring system comprising a weighingscale and a litter box, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a logical flow-chart illustrating one exemplary method ofmonitoring an animal's behavior, health, and/or characteristicsaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a logical flow chart illustrating one exemplary power savingmethod triggered by an event, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a logical flow-chart illustrating one exemplary method fordetermining animal behavior, health, and or characteristics, accordingto one embodiment of the invention

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computerized system formonitoring an animal's behavior, health, and/or characteristics,according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a graphical illustration of an exemplary animal behavior,health, and/or characteristics monitoring system comprising a kabob andweighing scale, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a graphical illustration of an exemplary animal behavior,health, and/or characteristics monitoring system comprising a weighingscale and a feeding and water station, according to one embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 9 is a logical flow-chart illustrating one exemplary method foridentifying a specific animal from a plurality of animals, according oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a graphical representation of exemplary measuredcharacteristics and derived data, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the drawings, which are provided as illustrativeexamples so as to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Notably, the figures and examples below are not meant tolimit the scope of the present invention to a single embodiment, butother embodiments are possible by way of interchange of or combinationwith some or all of the described or illustrated elements. Whereverconvenient, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to same or like parts.

Where certain elements of these embodiments can be partially or fullyimplemented using known components, only those portions of such knowncomponents that are necessary for an understanding of the presentinvention will be described, and detailed descriptions of other portionsof such known components will be omitted so as not to obscure theinvention.

In the present specification, an embodiment showing a singular componentshould not be considered limiting; rather, the invention is intended toencompass other embodiments including a plurality of the same component,and vice-versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise herein.

Further, the present invention encompasses present and future knownequivalents to the components referred to herein by way of illustration.

Embodiments of the invention seek to provide systems, methods andapparatus for animal health monitoring with the benefit of an earlydetection of animal sickness and notification to the owner or caretakerof such animal. Embodiments of the invention can also be used forgenerating data over time for statistical processing of an animal'shabits and comparing the data with a set of data for other animals, forpurposes of understanding a particular animal's health trends andvariations in an animal's state of health, for monitoring an animal'sstate of health and possibly using these data in scientific research.Another embodiment of the invention can be used for monitoring andunderstanding animal's response to various types of food, variousclimate changes and other external factors. Furthermore, embodiments canbe used to track a recuperation of sick animals undergoing aveterinarian treatment; if the improvement in the animal's state ofhealth is too slow or stalled, a proactive measures can be taken by atreating veterinarian, such as change in the treatment. Furthermore, thehealth parameters monitored and stored over time as historical data, canbe used by the veterinarians and animal owners and caretakers alike, toassess trends and changes in animal's state of health over time. Stillanother embodiment can be used to monitor growth of baby animals,compute their rate of growth continuously and automatically generatewarnings if unexpected changes in the rate of growth detected.

Embodiments may be used to determine and record various animal's healthparameters, such as the animal's weight, the weight of animal's wasteleft in a waste container every time animal visits the waste container,a duration of animal's presence in the waste container, as well as thedate and time of every attendance of the waste container; the weight ofthe waste container without animals in it is also periodically measuredand recorded. These data can be recorded continuously from the moment ofsystem installation and activation throughout animal's life for as longas the system is in place and operational. The derivative data can bedaily frequency of the trips to the waste container, cumulative dailyamount of waste deposited by an animal in the waste container, averagedaily body weight of an animal, cumulative daily time duration that ananimal spent in the waste container, cumulative number of times a wastehas been deposited in the waste container by a single or multipleanimals since said waste container has been cleaned from the waste mostrecently.

Embodiments can apply various mathematical and algorithmic techniques,such as bivariate, multivariate and trend analysis. The combination ofraw data collected over time and processed (derived) data accumulatedover time for each animal can represent a typical profile of behavior,physiology and habits of said animal, that we call here a typical healthprofile. Further embodiments can use various mathematical andalgorithmic techniques, such as calculation of a covariance matrix andfurther application of Kalman filter for tracking the mean andcovariance of an evolving process and, finally, for detecting if newincoming data is atypically deviating from the typical data profile.Further trend analysis help to determine whether said atypical variationhas been random or a trend is developing. The described processing canfacilitate detecting such trends early on.

A processing of the data can derive additional information aboutanimal's health, such as trends in animal's weight changes, whetherincrease or decrease, irregularities in the frequency of waste containerattendance and duration of animal's presence in the waste container,irregularities and trends in animal's waste weight changes. Applicationof various statistical methods can derive further information aboutanimal's health, such as minimum, maximum, mean and median of thementioned above parameters. Furthermore, if a database of plurality ofanimals is created and maintained, the described above processing can beapplied to all or a subset of animals chosen by one of several criteria,such as animal's specie, bread, age or range of ages, gender, geographiclocation, size/weight or range of sizes/weights, type of food consumedby the animal etc.

Embodiments of the invention can provide fully automated way toconsistently measure and electronically record animal's weight on adaily basis, without disturbing the animal or disrupting its naturalbehavior. An apparatus with weighing and time measurement capabilitiescan be embedded in various animal auxiliary equipment, such as: placedunderneath a waste container, as a platform underneath a food containeror a water container or underneath both a food and a water container,underneath animal's bed, underneath animal's housing or any other gearwhere animal comes naturally and dwells for a period of time sufficientto perform a body weight and time measurements. In the case of aviananimals (birds) contained inside a cage, an apparatus with weighing andtime measurement capabilities can be embedded between the cage and akabob or perch on which a bird typically dwells for at least some timedaily; an apparatus can be embedded in a vertical line of a cord, ropeor wire between the cage and the kabob in a way that the upper side ofthe apparatus is attached to the cage or the line, and the lower part ofthe line, supporting the kabob or perch, can be attached to the lowerside of the apparatus. Carabiners or similar auxiliary devices can beused on both sides of the apparatus for such an attachment.

Embodiments of this invention can leverage animals' natural behavior:animals come to their waste containers on their own terms, withoutanybody forcing them to do so, and on their own schedule. While in thewaste container, they do move around pretty actively while sniffing,digging the substance such as litter, and looking for a spot to evacuatetheir bowels or bladder; however, during the bowel or bladderevacuation, animals naturally focus on this process and completely ornearly stop moving inside the waste container. This can be anadvantageous moment to measure and capture their body weight, which iscalculated as a difference between the weight of the waste containerwithout the animal inside it before the animal arrived in the wastecontainer, and the combined weight of the animal and the wastecontainer, measured at the described above timing. Embodiments caninclude weighing animal's waste as soon the animal has left the wastecontainer after depositing its waste in the waste container; the wasteweight is calculated as the difference between the weight of the wastecontainer before the animal's arrival in the waste container and afterthe animal's departure from the waste container.

In some embodiments data can be continuously captured during the entireduration of the animal's activity inside a waste container, during foodor water consumption, sleep or rest until the animal moves awayeffectively disengaging measurement. Data can be captured byperiodically sampling a sensor or sensors, such as weight, pressure orforce sensor or sensors (such as strain gauges, load cells, piezosensors etc.) and converting a contiguous (analog) electrical signalinto a digital data.

Embodiments can include various methods of processing an array ofdigital data applied to extract weight and time measurements. Forexample, a threshold expressed in an absolute (volts, counts, numbers,weight units) or relative units (e.g. percentage of maximum) can be usedto identify an event, such as the animal stepping or jumping onto anapparatus or stepping or jumping off the apparatus. Various digitalfiltering techniques can be used, such as moving window filterscalculating average or median of the data inside the window, or findingminimum or maximum rate of change. One of the use examples can includefinding the data point or the region inside the data array where thedisturbance was minimum to calculate the weight/pressure/force actuallyapplied on the apparatus.

Said data could be processed inside the apparatus on-the-fly, i.e.applying methods as the data samples come in and not storing the entiredata, but only a metadata; or said data could be initially stored in anapparatus in full length or a portion and processed with a delay in theapparatus; or said data could be evacuated from the apparatus to adatabase, where processing methods can be applied.

In cases where multiple animals use a waste container there may be aneed to identify each animal, or at least distinguish between theanimals. Each animal can be identified based on its body weight. Theanimal owner or a caretaker can associate each animal's weight with itsname or nickname via a computer user interface. In cases where severalanimals have so similar body weight that using the animal's body weightto identify each animal becomes unreliable, more sophisticate methodscan be used based on each animal's body weight signature. The bodyweight signature is not only the animal's body weight at the time of ameasurement, but also can include the historical body weightfluctuations for each animal; such fluctuations typically vary in theirtiming (phase), and therefore can be associated with a specific animal.In case several animals have so similar body weight signature that usinganimal's body weight signature to identify each animal becomesunreliable, more sophisticate methods can be used based on each animal'sbehavior and physiology signature. Each animal's behavior and physiologysignature can take into account typical behavioral and physiologicalpatterns associated with each animal, that is a combination ofregularity and typical time of day of the trips to the waste containerby each animal, as well as a typical duration of time each animaltypically spends in the litter box, and the weight of waste each animaltypically deposits in a waste container at each trip to the wastecontainer, depending on the time of day. As such, the animalidentification methods use any combination of animal's body weight,typical body weight fluctuations (phase), typical timing (time of day)of the trips to the waste container, duration of time spent in the wastecontainer, and/or the typical weight of waste left in the wastecontainer, as well as many other characteristics.

These and other various methods of animal identification by animal'sbody weight or by animal's body weight signature can be applied in casesof performing measurements on multiple animals, such as an apparatusused as a platform underneath a food container, water container, bothfood and water container, animal bed, as well as others. In the case ofa system used as a platform underneath a food container, watercontainer, both food and water container, an animal identificationmethod can be based on the animal's weight, weight signature (asdescribed herein) and in addition, animal consumption signature. Theanimal consumption signature takes into account the amount (weight) offood, water or food and water consumed at each feeding, drinking orfeeding and water drinking session, as well as the timing of eachsession, in particular the time of day of each such session, andduration time of each such session, depending on the time of day ofsession and overall cumulative daily frequency of such sessions typicalfor each animal. These and other various methods can support anycombination of multiple animals and one or multiple apparatuses, namely:multiple animals and one apparatus, and multiple animals and multipleapparatuses. In the case of multiple animals and one apparatus, theseand other methods can be implemented in the apparatus or outside theapparatus on the database or databases. In the case of multiple animalsand multiple apparatuses, these and other methods can be implemented onthe database or databases that contain the measurement data taken by themultiple apparatuses.

Embodiments of the invention can also include reminders delivered to themaximum rate of growth and the minimum rate of growth are user defined.in the form of an automatically generated electronic mail sent to auser-specified electronic mail address; automatically generated textmessages sent via SMS (Short Message Service) to a user-specified mobilephone number; automatically generated calendar reminders set up by thesystem in a user-specified online calendar; automatically generatedphone calls to a user-specified mobile or landline phone number;automatically generated messages by a mobile phone applicationpreviously installed by the user on his/her mobile phone.

An automatic reminder to clean up a waste container (scoop out animalwaste/remove animal waste from a waste container) can also be set by theuser. Reminders can be usage based, volume based, time based or based onanother criteria. In the case of a usage based reminder, a user canspecify a total number of trips to the waste container by an animal oranimals, and the system can be set up to count how many times an animalor animals entered a waste container, and generate a reminder after aspecified number of trips has been reached. In the case of a volumebased reminder, a user can specify a total weight of animal wastedeposited in a waste container, and the system can be set up to computecumulative weight of animal waste deposited in a waste container, andgenerate a reminder after the specified volume of waste has been reachedor exceeded. In the case of a time based reminder, a user can specify aperiod of time expressed in days and/or hours after reaching which thesystem may automatically generate a reminder.

An automatic reminder to add a litter or any other substance used in awaste container to a waste container can also be set by the user. Thisreminder can be usage based, volume based, time based, or based onanother criteria. In the case of a usage based reminder, a user canspecify a total number of clean up (scoop out animal waste/remove animalwaste from a waste container) cycles of a waste container, and thesystem can be set up to count a number of a waste container clean upcycles (how many times an animal waste has been removed from a wastecontainer) and generate a reminder after the specified number of cleanup cycles has been reached. In the case of a volume based reminder, auser can specify a total weight of a waste container (a combined weightof a waste container and animal waste deposited in a waste containerover time), and the system can be set up to generate a reminder afterthe specified weight of a waste container has been reached or the weightof the waste container decreased below the specified weight, following acleaning of the waste container (scooping out animal waste/removinganimal waste from the waste container) by a user. In the case of a timebased reminder, a user can specify a period of time expressed in daysand/or hours after reaching which the system can automatically generatesa reminder.

An automatic event tracker can also be set by the user. Embodiments ofthe invention can be configured to automatically record date and time,time duration and other appropriate parameters of various events. Onesuch event associated with a waste container can be cleaning a wastecontainer (removing animal waste from a waste container) by a user. Inthis case, embodiments of the invention can be configured to record dateand time, time duration of each cleaning and a weight of a waste removedfrom a waste container. All records can be stored and can be presentedto a user in a textual or graphical format per user's request, includinga number of cleaning cycles in a specified period of time, such as pastN days, weeks, months, years, or between two specified dates. Other suchevents associated with food and water containers can be: cleaning a foodcontainer, adding food to a food container, cleaning a water container,and/or adding water to a water container, among other things.Embodiments of the invention can be configured to record date and time,time duration of each event, and, if appropriate, weight of food andwater added. All records can be stored and can be presented to a user ina textual or graphical format per user's request, including a number ofcleaning cycles in a specified period of time, such as past N days,weeks, months, years, or between two specified dates. Examples of oneuse of such an event tracker can be to ensure that a caretaker lookedafter an animal or animals appropriately and performed his/her dutiesdiligently and in timely manner. Another example of one use of suchevent tracker can be maintaining an animal's health and wellness historyfor various purposes such as reviewing animal's health and wellnesshistory by a veterinarian or a humane society organization.

Another event which can be associated with a waste container can be eachindividual animal's activity associated with a waste container. In thiscase, embodiments of the invention can be configured to record date andtime of each animal's trip to a waste container, time duration ofanimal's presence inside a waste container, and/or weight of wastedeposited by an animal in the waste container. All records can be storedand can be presented to a user in a textual or graphical format peruser's request, including a number of cleaning cycles in a specifiedperiod of time, such as past N days, weeks, months, years, or betweentwo specified dates.

Another event which can be associated with a food and water containerscan be each individual animal's activity associated with a food and/orwater containers. In this case, embodiments of the invention can beconfigured to record date and/or time of each animal's trip to foodand/or water containers, time duration of each animal's presence on topof an apparatus that is essentially the duration of feeding and/or waterdrinking, and/or weight of food and water consumed by an animal.Embodiments of the invention can be configured to calculate an averagerate of food and/or water consumption.

Another event which can be associated with an animal can be eachindividual animal's activity associated with an animal bed. In thiscase, embodiments of the invention can be configured to record dateand/or time of each animal's arrival to and departure from the animalbed, duration of time spent by each animal in the animal bed, andsleeping patterns of each animal. The system can identify when theanimal is at rest and when the animal is moving in the bed, record date,time, and time duration of each such event. Embodiments of the inventioncan be configured to calculate daily cumulative amount of time an animalspends in the bed, daily cumulative amount of deep sleep time withoutdisturbance, daily cumulative number of animal movements in its sleep,and calculate animal sleep quality score or sleep quality index, basedon, but not limited to the factors listed above.

Embodiments of the invention can be configured to calculate correlationsbetween any of the measured characteristics and derived data associatedwith an animal waste container, animal food and water containers, andwith and animal bed, for various purposes such as scientific research,generating actionable information for animal owners and caretaker aboutthe influence of food, feeding regiments and other events.

Referring now to FIG. 1, one exemplary implementation of a system formonitoring an animal's behavior, health or characteristics is shown anddescribed in detail. A system 100 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention comprises a sensor 102, a measuring device 104 and astorage device 112. The sensor 102 is configured for detecting thepresence (or absence) of the animal. The sensor 102 can be implementedin a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, weighing scales,weight transducers, force transducers, displacement transducers,pressure transducers, weight sensors, force sensors, displacementsensors, pressure sensors, load cells, photographic cameras, videocameras, camcorders, contact thermometers, non-contact thermometers,such as infrared thermometers, laser thermometers, infrared pyrometers,laser pyrometers, litters or litter additives that change theirproperties, such as color, odor, outgassing, fluorescence, luminescence,when come in contact with animal waste, either urine or excrements, suchas Health Meter Early Detection System Cat Litter, First Alert UrinaryTract Infection Detector Cat Litter, Detect TM Cat Litter, Pet EcologyScientific Professional Cat Litter and a combination thereof. Variousauxiliary means to determine animal's presence or absence at aparticular location or height, such as optical sensors, opticalreflecting sensors, LED/photodiode pair optical sensors,LED/phototransistor pair optical sensors, laser diode/photodiode pairoptical sensors, laser diode/phototransistor pair optical sensors,optocouplers, optical fiber coupled optical sensors, magnetic sensors,weight sensors, force sensors, displacement sensors, pressure sensors,various proximity sensors, such as inductive proximity sensors, magneticproximity sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, and/or a combinationthereof.

The measuring device 104 is configured to measure a characteristic ofthe animal whenever presence of the animal is detected or upon theanimal's departure. The measuring device 104 can be implemented in avariety of ways including, but not limited to, weighing scales, weighttransducers, force transducers, displacement transducers, pressuretransducers, weight sensors, force sensors, displacement sensors,pressure sensors, real time clocks, timers, counters, and/or acombination thereof.

The storage device 112 is configured to store the measuredcharacteristics of the animal. Exemplary storage devices 112 caninclude, but are not limited to, memory devices, data storage devicesand a combination thereof such as memory chips, semiconductor memories,Integrated Circuits (IC's), non-volatile memories or storage device suchas flash memories, Read Only Memories (ROM's), Erasable Read OnlyMemories (EROM's), Electrically Erasable Read Only Memories (EEROM's),Erasable Programmable Read Only Memories (EPROM's), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read Only Memories (EEPROM's), an ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPRO), volatile memories suchas Random Access Memories (RAM's), Static Random Access Memories(SRAM's), Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAM's), Single Data Ratememories (SDR's), Dual Data Rata memories (DDR's), Quad Data Ratememories (QDR's), microprocessor registers, microcontroller registers,CPU registers, controller registers, magnetic storage devices such asmagnetic disks, magnetic hard disks, magnetic tapes, optical memorydevices such as optical disks, compact disks (CD's), Digital VersatileDisks (DVD's), Blu-ray Disks, Magneto Optical Disks (MO Disks) and/or acombination thereof. In one embodiment, the storage device comprises asemiconductor RAM IC for an intermediate recording of the behavior,health, and/or characteristics of the animal, and then transfer of thedata to a flash memory IC for non-volatile recording. Another embodimentcan be an external memory device known as a USB flash memory, also knownas a thumb drive.

The system 100 can also include a processor 110 configured to calculatederived data from the measured characteristics. Exemplary processors canrefer, without limitation, to electronic circuits, systems, modules,subsystems, sub modules, devices and combinations thereof, such asCentral Processing Units (CPU's), microprocessors, microcontrollers,processing units, control units, tangible media for recording and/or acombinations thereof. The storage device 112 can also be configured tostore derived data from the processor 110. In one embodiment, the sensor102, measuring device 104, and storage 112 are assembled into astand-alone apparatus. In another embodiment, the sensor 102, measuringdevice 104, storage 112, and processor 110 are assembled into astand-alone apparatus. In still another embodiment, the processor 110and/or storage 112 are configured as remote cloud storage devices.

In addition, the storage device 112 can be configured to store thresholdalert data. The threshold alert data can correspond to thresholds,either predetermined or set by the user, for either measured data orderived data. The processor 110 can also be configured to compare theappropriate measured or derived data to threshold data, determine if athreshold has been meet (either by reaching, exceeding, or falling belowa threshold value), and send an alert when the threshold data has beenmet. In some embodiments, a threshold condition can include, but not belimited to, multiple conditions, a logical statement, a predeterminedsequence of events and/or a combination thereof.

Sample measured characteristics and derived data can include, but arenot limited to, any observable measure of the health or physical stateof an animal determined by various means, and may be quantitative orqualitative, such as a weight of an animal, a weight of a wastedeposited by an animal in a waste container, a body temperature of ananimal, the weight of a platform before the presence of the animal isdetected, the combined weight of the platform and the animal after thepresence of the animal was detected, the weight of a platform after thedeparture of the animal was detected, the weight of the food consumed bythe animal, the weight of the water consumed by the animal, the datewhen presence of the animal is detected, the time when presence of theanimal is detected, the time when departure of the animal is detected,the duration of time between detection of the presence of the animal andthe departure of the animal, a tip of the nose temperature of an animal,an ear temperature of an animal, an anal temperature of an animal, aheight of an animal, a video or a picture or plurality thereof of ananimal, a video or a picture or plurality thereof of animal body partssuch as a face, an eye, eyes, parts of a skin, a paws, a video or apicture or plurality thereof of a waste container, a video or a pictureor plurality thereof of a waste left by an animal, a video or a pictureor plurality thereof of a substance in a waste container, a voicerecording for the duration of animal's presence inside a wastecontainer, a result of chemical, biological or biochemical analysis, thedaily frequency with which presence of the animal is detected, thecumulative daily weight of the animal's waste, the cumulative dailyweight of the food consumed by the animal, the cumulative daily weightof the water consumed by the animal, the average daily weight of theanimal, the maximum and the minimum daily weight of the animal, thecumulative daily duration of time between each detection of the presenceof the animal and the departure of the animal, the average, maximum andminimum rates of food and water consumption, expressed in weight of foodand water consumed per unit of time, the cumulative daily number oftimes the presence of the animal is detected, the amount of time sincethe last time presence of the animal is detected, or the average dailytime interval between instances where presence of animal is detected.

An exemplary implementation compatible with any animal that uses a wastecontainer for emptying its bowels, bladder and a combination thereofregularly, periodically or occasionally is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2,the system 200 comprises a device 202 configured to measure and/ordetermine one or more characteristics of the animal, while the animal isdisposed within a waste container 204. In some implementations, thedevice 202 comprises a weight scale 206 (electronic or mechanical)coupled to a digitized readout apparatus 208 that is coupled to aprocessor 210. In other implementations, the weight scale 206 isdirectly coupled to the processor 210 via a digital interface (notshown). In some implementations, the device 202 also includes anonvolatile storage device 212 configured to store raw measurements and(in some variants) health parameters computed by the processor 210. Insome implementations, the device 202 is adapted to detect a weightchange event, measure and record weight, date, time and duration of theevent. In some variants, the scale 206, comprises a flat top surfacethat is configured beneath the container 204.

In some variants, the container 204 is secured to the scale 206 via anyof the variety of appropriate attachment mechanisms, including, forexample, an anti-slip surface, a mechanical latch, a tongue and grooveconfiguration, an adhesive, locking, wedging, suction, fastening such asa hook-and-loop fastener (also known under a brand name Velcro), etc.,in order to prevent container movements relative to the scale,particularly when the animal is in contact with the container.

In some implementations, the scale 206 comprises an adaptor (not shown)configured to accommodate a variety of container sizes (and shapes), asmay be required in order to handle animals of various sizes. In onevariant, the adapter comprises an expandable plate arrangement that issimilar to a common dining table. In another variant, the adaptercomprises a removable plate, configured to conform to the shape of thewaste container 204. In some implementations, the container 204comprises the device 202, such that the device 202 is an integral partof the container 204 and such that the bottom of the container 204serves as the top surface of the device and vice versa.

In some implementations, the processor 210 comprises any suitablemicrocontroller, such as, for example a Texas Instruments MSP430,Stellaris ARM Cortex-M, C2000, Hercules ARM Microcontrollers; Renesas78K, RX, H8, M16C, SH Microcontrollers; Atmel AVR, 8051, ARM7, ARM9,Cortex-M3 Microcontrollers; STMicroelectronics ARM Cortex, STM8, STM32Microcontrollers; Freescale Kinetis ARM Microcontrollers. In someimplementations, the processing block is embedded within the electronicscale (e.g., the scale 106).

The processor 210 can be configured to perform a variety of monitoringand processing operations comprising, inter alia, implementation of astate machine, control of digital inputs and outputs, read-out,analog-to-digital converters, which convert analog sensor outputs todigital words, and, optionally, processing of the digital words, variouscalibrations of device 202 and its subsystems: scale 206, sensor 214,and measuring device 216, control of the input/output block (e.g. anetwork interface), communicating (via the network interface) raw and/orprocessed data to a remote network entity, timer block implementationand interface (using for example a real time clock and processing thereal time clock to compute current date and time), transfer of the rawreal time clock reading or date and time to the network entity, displaycontrol and interface with the display and transferring of data to bedisplayed on the display, interfacing with buttons, as well as othermonitoring and processing operations. The processing of the digitalwords can be a combination of or any of an IIR filter, FIR filter,window averaging or peak removal filters.

The weight scale 206 can include a sensor or sensors 214 and a measuringdevice 216. The sensor or sensors 214 can be configured for detectingthe presence (including the absence) of the animal. The measuring device216 can be configured to measure a characteristic of the animal wheneverthe presence of the animal is detected. In this case, the measuringdevice 216 can be configured to measure the weight of the animal in thecontainer and output electrical signals representing a weight applied tothe sensor 214.

The sensor 214 can comprise weighing scales, weight transducers, forcetransducers, displacement transducers, pressure transducers, weightsensors, force sensors, displacement sensors, and pressure sensors,among other sensors. In fact various pressure, force, displacement orweight sensor can be used, such as strain gauge-based load cells,optical position sensors, piezo displacement and pressure sensors;various types of load cells can also be used, such as single point,planar beam, tension or compression. The sensor 214 can also comprisephotographic cameras, video cameras, camcorders, contact thermometers,non-contact thermometers, such as infrared thermometers, laserthermometers, infrared pyrometers, laser pyrometers, litters or litteradditives that change their properties, such as color, odor, outgassing,fluorescence, luminescence, when come in contact with animal waste,either urine or excrements, such as Health Meter Early Detection SystemCat Litter, First Alert Urinary Tract Infection Detector Cat Litter,Detect TM Cat Litter, Pet Ecology Scientific Professional Cat Litter anda combination thereof. Various auxiliary means to determine animal'spresence or absence at a particular location or height, such as opticalsensors, optical reflecting sensors, LED/photodiode pair opticalsensors, LED/phototransistor pair optical sensors, laserdiode/photodiode pair optical sensors, laser diode/phototransistor pairoptical sensors, optocouplers, optical fiber coupled optical sensors,magnetic sensors, weight sensors, force sensors, displacement sensors,pressure sensors, various proximity sensors, such as inductive proximitysensors, magnetic proximity sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, and acombination thereof can also be used. The measuring device 116 can beused in combination with the sensor 214 to determine the animal'spresence or absence.

In one implementation, the device 200 further comprises an interfaceblock 218, coupled to the processor 210. In some variants, the interfaceblock 218 comprises a display, such as, for example a Liquid CrystalDisplay (LCD), Light-Emitting Diode (LED), Organic Light-Emitting Diode(OLED), Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD). In another variant, theinterface block 118 comprises a digital serial interface such as, forexample an Universal Serial Bus (USB), Universal AsynchronousReceiver/Transmitter (UART) or Universal Synchronous/AsynchronousReceiver/Transmitter (USART) that is used in conjunction withcommunication standards such as RS-422, RS-485 or RS-232, or IEEE 802.3Ethernet. In another variant, the interface 114 comprises any suitablewireless interface, such as IEEE 802.11x (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g,802.11n) also known as Wi-Fi also known as Wireless LAN (WLAN), IEEE802.15 also known as Wireless Personal Area Network (Wireless PAN orWPAN), IEEE 802.15.1 also known as Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.3 also knownas High Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (HR-WPAN), IEEE 802.15.4also known as Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN) andtheir variety such as ZigBee, MiWi, Wireless Highly Addressable RemoteTransducer (Wireless HART), Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WirelessUSB). In another variant, the interface block 218 comprises a cellularmodem or a cellular network adapter such as General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally GroupeSpecial Mobile), or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) modem, and theprocessor 210 is implemented as a part of the modem. In someimplementations the interface block 218 comprises input means, such asfor example, buttons or switches.

In some implementations, the nonvolatile storage device 212 isconfigured as an integral part of the processor 210. In otherimplementations, the storage device 212 is embodied within the weightscale 206. In other implementations, the storage device 212 is embodiedwithin the interface block 218. In other implementations, the storagedevice 212 comprises a flash storage module (fixed or removable), or anyother suitable non-volatile recording media module (optical, magnetic,etc.), operably coupled to the processor 210.

In one exemplary implementation, the device 200 comprises a singlehousing encompassing a weight scale 206, the processor 210, and thestorage block 212. In some variants, the device 200 further comprises awireless input/output interface (e.g., the interface block 218). A wastecontainer 204 is disposed on top of the device 200 using any of themechanisms described herein, or houses the entire device 202 asdescribed herein.

In another implementation, the device 200 comprises a weight scalemodule and input/output interface module. In one implementation, theelectronic scale module houses the processor and wireless networkinterface, comprising, e.g., a portion of the interface block 218 ofFIG. 2. In one variant, the device 200 is coupled to the input/outputmodule via a digital wired interface (e.g., serial, USB, Ethernet, I2C,or any other applicable interface). In other variants, the input/outputinterface module is connected to the device 200 via a wireless interface(e.g., WiFi, IR-DA, Bluetooth, etc.). In still another variant, theinput/output interface module is connected to the device via thewireless interface. In one variant, the input/output interface modulecomprises a display unit and input interface (e.g., the buttons). Inother variants, the display unit comprises a touch sensitive interfacethereby providing input functionality. In another variant (not shown),the display unit comprises LED. In another implementation, the processorand wireless network interface are embodied within the input/outputmodule.

In some variants, the nonvolatile storage (e.g., the 112 of FIG. 1 or212 of FIG. 2) is embodied within the input/output module. In othervariants, the input/output module comprises an interface configured toreceive a removable nonvolatile storage module (e.g., a USB flash drive,secure digital card, or a memory stick).

In another embodiment of the invention, a method for monitoring thebehavior of an animal is described as shown in FIG. 3. The presence ofan animal is detected in step 302 of method 300. The presence of theanimal can be detected in step 302. A characteristic of the animal ismeasured in 304 upon detecting the animal's presence. The measuredcharacteristic is then stored in step 306. The measured characteristiccan be compared to a stored threshold value as illustrated in step 308.If the threshold is crossed, an alert can be sent to the animal's ownersin step 310. Derived data can be calculated based on the measuredcharacteristics as illustrated in step 312. The derived data can also becompared to a stored threshold value (step 314) and, if the derived datacrosses the threshold data, an alert can be sent to the animal's ownersas shown in step 316.

In another aspect of the invention, methods for monitoring an animal'sbehavior, health, and/or characteristics are described with respect toFIG. 4. The methodology described herein is compatible with any animalthat uses a waste container for emptying its bowels, bladder and acombination thereof regularly, periodically or occasionally.

At step 402 of the method 400 of FIG. 4, an exemplary device formonitoring animal's behavior, health, and/or characteristics (e.g., thedevice 100 of FIG. 1 or 200 of FIG. 2) is a low power mode (sleep mode).At step, 404, an event is detected and the device transitions from thelow power to fully operational mode (step 406). In one variant, theevent is detected using, for example, edge detection on a wake-up pin ofthe processor (110 or 210). In another variant, the event is detectedusing an I/O interrupt due to I/O interface activity. Once in the fullyoperational mode, the device reads relevant I/O ports at step 406 (e.g.,scale input, status of buttons/switches, touch input, network activity,etc.). At step 408, the device determines if there has been a weightchange by comparing, for example, the last scale weight reading at aprior time to the current scale reading.

If weight change is detected, the method proceeds to step 410 where thecurrent weight is determined using any of the methodologies described ingreater detail herein. At step 412, weight, date and time (and otherdata) are stored on the non-volatile storage medium. In one variant,additional derived parameters (such as for example a weight change, arunning mean, an update threshold, etc.) are stored as well.

If weight change is not detected at step 408, the method proceeds tostep 416 to read health parameters, i.e., the parameters recorded at,for example, step 412 at a prior time instance. At step 416, a response,comprising health parameter data read from the nonvolatile storage(e.g., storage 112 of FIG. 1 or 212 of FIG. 2), to the I/O request(e.g., the request detected previously at step 404) is sent via the I/Ointerface (e.g., the interface 214 of FIG. 2).

In one implementation, while in the low-power mode, the deviceperiodically (e.g. once every second or once every 10 seconds) switchesto a full power (operational) mode=(wakes up) for a very short time(e.g. one millisecond or two milliseconds), determines the weight,calculates a difference between the measured weight and a predeterminedweight (e.g. the weight determined during the most recent wake up, i.e.1-10 sec ago), compares the difference with a preprogrammed threshold306 (e.g. the threshold is ⅓ oz, or 1/100 of the predetermined weight),and if the threshold exceeds the difference, the device stores themeasured weight in the tangible medium 308 and returns back to the lowpower mode (sleep mode); if the difference exceeds the threshold, thedevice stays in an operational mode. In some implementations, an eventcan initiate scale activation due to, e.g., an animal entering the wastecontainer, or an animal owner or caretaker cleaning the waste containeror adding litter to the waste container. In other implementations, theevent comprises activation of the input/output interface (e.g., a usertoggling a button, or receipt of a packet via the network interface).

In some implementations, additional behavior, health, and/orcharacteristic parameters are recorded as well, including but notlimited to, weight of the container, weight of the animal, a date andtime of a weight determination event, duration of the animal's presenceinside the waste container associated with the weight determinationevent, a weight value of animal waste, a weight value of the wastecontainer, time interval between two consecutive animal's presencesinside a waste container, time elapsed since most recent animal'spresences inside a waste container.

In some implementations, methods for determining animal's weight, whilethe animal is positioned inside a waste container, (i.e., the weightchange event) comprise:

-   -   (i) determining weight of the container before the animal        entered the container;    -   (ii) detecting container weight change by using, for example, an        edge detection or thresholding technique, where magnitude of the        difference between two or more successive weight reading is        compared against a predetermined, or adaptively configured        threshold, in order to detect an even when the animal enters the        waste container;    -   (iii) a moving window or a minimal rate of change algorithm to        recognize when an electrical signal or a digital word        representing a weight is settled enough to perform a        determination of a combined weight of the animal and the waste        container, and a subtraction applied to two the determined        weight values by subtracting the weight of a waste container        from the combined weight of the animal and the waste container,        to calculate animal's weight.

In some implementations, date and time of the weight determinationevent, the duration of the animal's presence inside the waste containerassociated with the weight determination event, time interval betweentwo consecutive animal's presences inside a waste container, timeelapsed since most recent animal's presences inside a waste containerare determined using an internal system clock, (e.g., a software orhardware timer of the processor 110 of FIG. 1 or 210 of FIG. 2).Whenever the weight change event is detected (using for example the edgedetection technique described supra), corresponding to the animalentering or leaving the waste container, the corresponding readout ofthe timer is stored in nonvolatile storage (e.g. 112 of FIG. 1 or 212 ofFIG. 2). Each event is further labeled with the appropriate flag todenote if it corresponds to (i) the animal entering the container; or(ii) the animal leaving the container.

The time of the animal's presence in the weight container is determined,in one variant, by computing a difference between the two adjacentevents associated with the animal leaving the container and the animalentering the container.

In some implementations, a smoothing algorithm (e.g., a low pass filter,or a moving window averaging algorithm) can be used to smooth down thehigh frequency oscillations of the weight and to enable robust detectionwhen signal representing the weight measurement is settled enough toperform determination of the combined weight of the animal's waste andthe waste container. Subsequently, the waste weight can be determinedby, for example, subtracting the container weight from the combinedweight measurement.

FIG. 5 is a logical flowchart illustrating one exemplary method fordetermining animal health parameters for use with a system, according toone embodiment of the invention. According to method 500, a system formonitoring an animal's behavior, health, and/or characteristicscomprises a sleep mode 502, which is a low power mode configured topreserve the power and extend battery life in one embodiment in whichthe system is powered by batteries. While in sleep mode 502, the systemwaits for a weight change event. A weight change event 504 causes thesystem to move to step 506 at which point the system switches to fullpower mode and records the current date (D) and time (T1). In step 508,the system waits for the weighing scale to stabilize, and periodicallychecks whether or not the weighing scale is stable. Once the weighingscale is stable, the weight (W2) is determined and recorded in step 510.Next, the system waits for another weight change event in step 512. Assoon as another weight change event is detected, the system again waitsfor the weighing scale to stabilize in step 514. Once the weighing scalehas stabilized, the weight (W3), current date (d), and time (T2) aredetermined and recorded in step 516. In step 518, the animal's weightWanimal, the weight of the waste left by the animal Wwaste, and the timeduration (Td) spent by the animal in the waste container are calculatedare calculated as: Wanimal=W2−W1, where W2 is the weight determined atthe step 510 and W1 is the most recent determined and recorded weightprior to the step 502; Wwaste=W3−W1, where W3 is the weight determinedat the step 516 and W1 is as described above. Note here that the weightW3 is the last recorded weight, which is used as the weight W1 for thecalculations taking place at the step 518 after the current cycle iscomplete through the steps 520 and 522, back to the state 502. Nextduration of time Td is calculated as Td=T2−T1, where T2 is the timedetermined at the step 516, and T1 is the time determined at the step506. After the mentioned above calculations are completed, the followingare recorded on a tangible medium at the step 520: Wanimal, Wwaste, Td,D, T1. Lastly, at the step 522, time interval Te between two consecutiveanimal's presences inside a waste container is calculated as Te=(D,T1)i+1−(D, T1)i, where (D,T1)i+1 are the current date D and time T1recorded at the step 506 of the current cycle (i+1), and (D, T1)i aredate D and time T1 recorded at the step 506 of the preceding cycle (i).Calculated time interval Te is recorded on a tangible medium also atstep 522, and the apparatus returns to step 502 sleep mode.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a block diagram of one exemplary implementationof a system for monitoring an animal's behavior, health orcharacteristics is shown and described. A system 600, according to oneembodiment of the present invention, comprises a local device 601,connected to a network 624, to which various remote displays 626 areconnected via their various network adapters 628. A central ordistributed database 634 is also connected to the network 624 via asingle or multiple network adapters 630. Various remote displays 632 areconnected to the database or databases 634, where multiple user accounts636 can be stored.

The local device 601, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention, can comprise a waste container 602, a transducer ortransducers 604, a sensor or sensors 606, processing electronics 608, acontroller 610, a tangible storage medium 612, an identification sensorconfigured to identify separate animals 614, a local display 616, localbuttons 618, visible and audible alarms 620, and a network adapter 622.

The waste container 602 can be implemented in a variety of waysincluding, but not limited to a litter box, a litter pan, a litter tray,a cat box, a cat house, a pet mat, a pet potty, a potty pad, a trainingtray, a layer of grass, a layer of artificial grass, a floor mat, acardboard box, cardboard, paper sheets, and/or newspaper sheets. In someembodiments, the waste container 602 can be similar to the wastecontainer 204 on FIG. 2.

The a transducer or transducers 604, and/or the sensor or sensors 606can be configured to detect the presence (or absence) of the animal, andto measure a variety of physical parameters, including, but not limitedto weight, force, pressure, displacement, incoming and/or reflectedlight, temperature, color, odor, outgassing, fluorescence, luminescenceand/or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the transducer ortransducers 604, and/or the sensor or sensors 606 can be similar to thesensor 102 on FIG. 1.

The processing electronics 608 processes an electrical signal outputtedby the transducer or transducers 604, and/or the sensor or sensors 606,and converts the electrical signal into a stream of digital data, whichcan be transferred to a controller 610. The controller 610 can beconfigured to manage the local device 601 and control the processingelectronics 608, the tangible storage medium 612, the identificationsensor 614, the local display 616, the local buttons 618, the visibleand audible alarms 620, and the network adapter 622. The controller 610can control the timing of the processing electronics 608 and digitaldata retrieval from the processing electronics 608. The tangible storagemedium 612 can be configured to store the measured characteristics ofthe animal. Exemplary tangible storage media 612 can include, but arenot limited to, devices similar to those described as storage devices112 on FIG. 1. The controller 610 controls data writing to and readingdata from the tangible storage medium 612. The identification sensor 614can be implemented in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to,an animal's weight, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), a barcode,a picture of an animal, a video recording of an animal, and acombination thereof. The controller 610 can control the identificationsensor 614 in a variety of ways; in one exemplary implementation thecontroller 610 commands an RFID unit to activate, and reads an RFID codefrom the RFID unit; in another exemplary implementation the controller610 determines the animal's weight and compares it to the array ofweights stored on the tangible storage medium 612, determines whichweight in the array is closest to the determined weight, and retrievesthe animal's identification associated with the closest weight stored onthe tangible storage medium 612. The local display 616 can beimplemented in a variety of ways, similarly to the display of block 218on FIG. 2. In addition, any wireless device with its own display, suchas a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop, desktop or a tablet computer,can serve as a local display. In one exemplary implementation, thecontroller 610 sends data to the wireless device via the network adapter622. The controller 610 controls the local display by sending variousdata and control words to the local display 616 to configure it todisplay the data in a desired fashion set by the control words. Thelocal buttons 618 can be implemented in a variety of ways and caninclude, but are not limited to, various input mechanisms, such as forexample, buttons, switches, and/or touch inputs. The controller 610 canaccept the input electrical signal for the local buttons 618. Thevisible and audible alarms 620 can be implemented in a variety of waysand can include, but are not limited to, various visible alarms, such asfor example a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Light-Emitting Diode (LED),Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED), Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD)and/or a combination thereof and various audible alarms, such as forexample a speaker, a piezo device, and/or a combination thereof. Thecontroller 610 can control the visible and audible alarms 620 by sendingdata and, in some implementations, control words, at a desired sequenceand timing. The network adapter 622 can be configured to connect thelocal device 601 with the network 624, and can be implemented in avariety of ways including, but not limited to, wireless adapters such asIEEE 802.11x (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n) also known as Wi-Fialso known as Wireless LAN (WLAN), IEEE 802.15 also known as WirelessPersonal Area Network (Wireless PAN or WPAN), IEEE 802.15.1 also knownas Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.3 also known as High Rate Wireless PersonalArea Network (HR-WPAN), IEEE 802.15.4 also known as Low Rate WirelessPersonal Area Network (LR-WPAN) and their variety such as ZigBee, MiWi,Wireless Highly Addressable Remote Transducer (Wireless HART), WirelessUniversal Serial Bus (Wireless USB), a cellular modem such as GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)modem, or wired adapters, such as IEEE 802.3 Ethernet, Universal SerialBus (USB) or IEEE 1394 also known as FireWire, and/or a combinationthereof. The network 624 can be implemented in a variety of waysincluding, but not limited to, the Internet, the World Wide Web,peer-to-peer network, mash network and/or a combination thereof.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating another exemplary system formonitoring behavior, health, and/or characteristics of an animal,according to one embodiment of the invention, applicable to automaticmonitoring of weight of avian animals (birds). An automatic system formonitoring of weight of avian animals (birds) 700, according to oneembodiment of the present invention, comprises a kabob or perch 702,supported by a rope or a wire 704 that is connected to both ends of thekabob or perch 702. The rope or a wire 704 is hooked through a carabinerclip or a ring 7061 that is also connected to one side of a rope or wire7081, while the other side of the rope or a wire 7081 is connected tothe bottom side of the body of a device with weighing and timemeasurement capabilities 710. The upper side of the body of the devicewith weighing and time measurement capabilities 710 is connected toanother rope or a wire 7082 that can be similar to the rope or a wire7081. The other side of the rope or a wire 7082 is connected to acarabiner clip or a ring 7062 that can be similar to the carabiner clipor a ring 7061. The carabiner clip or a ring 7062 serves to connect thesystem 700 to a ceiling, an avian cage, a branch of a tree or any othersuitable structure. Both rope or a wire 7081 and 7082, or either one7081 or 7082 can have an antenna embedded into them for a wirelesscommunication from the device with weighing and time measurementcapabilities 710. The device 710 can be configured to measure and/ordetermine one or more characteristics of the avian animal (bird), whilethe avian animal (bird) is disposed on the kabob or perch 702. In someimplementations, the device 710 is adapted to detect a weight changeevent, measure and record weight, date, time and duration of the event,and transfer these measured characteristics of the avian animal (bird)wirelessly. The device 710 is configured and operates similarly to thedevice 200 described above and shown on FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a graphical illustration of system for monitoring behavior,health, and/or characteristics of an animal comprising a weighing scaleand a feeding and water station, according to one embodiment of theinvention. An exemplary implementation compatible with any animal thatuses a feeding and water station regularly, periodically or occasionallyis shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the system 800 comprises a device 802configured to measure and/or determine one or more characteristics ofthe animal, while the animal is disposed within a feeding tray 804. Theanimal is either attracted by a smell of food 824, placed inside a foodbowl 822, or by the previous knowledge of the location of food and wateron the feeding tray 804, or by a call of animal's owner or caretaker.The feeding tray 804 is specifically designed to prevent the animal fromreaching a food or a water with its high raised left side 8261 and rightside 8262, when a food or a water bowl 822 or both are placed close bythe high raised back wall of the feeding tray 804; the animal has toapproach the food and/or water from the side of low raised walls of thetray, and the animal is naturally funneled onto the tray's surface toreach the food and/or water, until all animal's paws are on the surfaceof the feeding tray 804. In one embodiment, the dimensions of thefeeding tray 804 allow for only one animal at a time to be located onthe surface of said tray. Such construction of the tray allowsmeasurement of the animal's weight reliably while the animal is feedingand/or drinking water and has all its paws on the top surface of thefeeding tray 804. In this implementation, the feeding tray 804 can alsocontain pieces of food and droplets of water that are naturallydispersed by an eating or water drinking animal. After the animal leavesthe feeding station it is easy for the animal's owner or caretaker toclean up or wash up smooth internal surfaces of the feeding tray 804.

In some implementations, the device 802 comprises a weight scale 806(electronic or mechanical) coupled to a digitized readout apparatus 808that is coupled to a processor 810. In other implementations, the weightscale 806 is directly coupled to the processor 810 via a digitalinterface (not shown). In some implementations, the device 802 alsoincludes a nonvolatile storage device 812 configured to store rawmeasurements and (in some variants) health parameters computed by theprocessor 810. In some implementations, the device 802 is adapted todetect a weight change event, measure and record weight, date, time andduration of the event. In some variants, the scale 806 comprises a topsurface that is configured beneath the feeding tray 804.

In some variants, the feeding tray 804 is secured to the scale 806 viaany of the variety of appropriate attachment mechanisms, including, forexample, an anti-slip surface, a mechanical latch, a tongue and grooveconfiguration, an adhesive, locking, wedging, suction, fastening such asa hook-and-loop fastener (also known under a brand name Velcro), etc.,in order to prevent feeding tray movements relative to the scale,particularly when the animal is in contact with the feeding tray.

In some implementations, the scale 806 comprises an adaptor (not shown)configured to accommodate a variety of feeding tray sizes (and shapes),as may be required in order to handle animals of various sizes. In onevariant, the adapter comprises an expandable plate arrangement that issimilar to a common dining table. In another variant, the adaptercomprises a removable plate, configured to conform to the shape of thefeeding tray 804. In some implementations, the feeding tray 804comprises the device 802, such that the device 802 is an integral partof the feeding tray 804, and such that the bottom of the feeding tray804 serves as the top surface of the device 802 and vice versa.

In some implementations, the processor 810 comprises any suitablemicrocontroller, such as, for example a Texas Instruments MSP430,Stellaris ARM Cortex-M, C8000, Hercules ARM Microcontrollers; Renesas78K, RX, H8, M16C, SH Microcontrollers; Atmel AVR, 8051, ARM7, ARM9,Cortex-M3 Microcontrollers; STMicroelectronics ARM Cortex, STM8, STM32Microcontrollers; Freescale Kinetis ARM Microcontrollers. In someimplementations, the processing block is embedded within the electronicscale (e.g., the scale 806).

The processor 810 can be configured to perform a variety of monitoringand processing operations comprising, inter alia, implementation of astate machine, control of digital inputs and outputs, read-out,analog-to-digital converters, which convert analog sensor outputs todigital words, and, optionally, processing of the digital words, variouscalibrations of device 802 and its subsystems: scale 806, sensor 814,and a measuring device 816, control of the input/output block (e.g. anetwork interface, a network adapter, a display), communicating (via thenetwork interface) raw and/or processed data to a remote network entity,timer block implementation and interface (using for example a real timeclock and processing the real time clock to compute current date andtime), transfer of the raw real time clock reading or date and time tothe network entity, display control and interface with the display andtransferring of data to be displayed on the display, interfacing withbuttons, as well as other monitoring and processing operations. Theprocessing of the digital words can be a combination of or any of an IIRfilter, FIR filter, window averaging or peak removal filters.

The weight scale 806 can include a sensor 814 and a measuring device816. The sensor 814 can be configured for detecting the presence(including the absence) of the animal. The measuring device 816 can beconfigured to measure a characteristic of the animal whenever thepresence of the animal is detected. In this case, the measuring device816 can be configured to measure the weight of the animal in the feedingtray and output electrical signals representing a weight applied to thesensor 814.

The sensor 814 can comprise weighing scales, weight transducers, forcetransducers, displacement transducers, pressure transducers, weightsensors, force sensors, displacement sensors, and pressure sensors,among other sensors. In fact various pressure, force, displacement orweight sensor can be used, such as strain gauge-based load cells,optical position sensors, piezo displacement and pressure sensors;various types of load cells can also be used, such as single point,planar beam, tension or compression. The sensor 814 can also comprisephotographic cameras, video cameras, camcorders, contact thermometers,non-contact thermometers, such as infrared thermometers, laserthermometers, infrared pyrometers, laser pyrometers, and a combinationthereof. Various auxiliary means to determine animal's presence orabsence at a particular location or height, such as optical sensors,optical reflecting sensors, LED/photodiode pair optical sensors,LED/phototransistor pair optical sensors, laser diode/photodiode pairoptical sensors, laser diode/phototransistor pair optical sensors,optocouplers, optical fiber coupled optical sensors, magnetic sensors,weight sensors, force sensors, displacement sensors, pressure sensors,various proximity sensors, such as inductive proximity sensors, magneticproximity sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, and a combinationthereof can also be used. The measuring device 816 can be used incombination with the sensor 814 to determine the animal's presence orabsence.

In one implementation, the device 800 further comprises an interfaceblock 818, coupled to the processor 810. In some variants, the interfaceblock 818 comprises a display, such as, for example a Liquid CrystalDisplay (LCD), Light-Emitting Diode (LED), Organic Light-Emitting Diode(OLED), Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD). In another variant, theinterface block 118 comprises a digital serial interface such as, forexample an Universal Serial Bus (USB), Universal AsynchronousReceiver/Transmitter (UART) or Universal Synchronous/AsynchronousReceiver/Transmitter (USART) that is used in conjunction withcommunication standards such as RS-422, RS-485 or RS-232, or IEEE 802.3Ethernet. In another variant, the interface 114 comprises any suitablewireless interface, such as IEEE 802.11x (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g,802.11n) also known as Wi-Fi also known as Wireless LAN (WLAN), IEEE802.15 also known as Wireless Personal Area Network (Wireless PAN orWPAN), IEEE 802.15.1 also known as Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.3 also knownas High Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (HR-WPAN), IEEE 802.15.4also known as Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN) andtheir variety such as ZigBee, MiWi, Wireless Highly Addressable RemoteTransducer (Wireless HART), Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WirelessUSB). In another variant, the interface block 818 comprises a cellularmodem or a cellular network adapter such as General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally GroupeSpecial Mobile), or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and theprocessor 810 is implemented as a part of the modem. In someimplementations the interface block 818 comprises input means, such asfor example, buttons or switches.

In some implementations, the nonvolatile storage device 812 isconfigured as an integral part of the processor 810. In otherimplementations, the storage device 812 is embodied within the weightscale 806. In other implementations, the storage device 812 is embodiedwithin the interface block 818. In other implementations, the storagedevice 812 comprises a flash storage module (fixed or removable), or anyother suitable non-volatile recording media module (optical, magnetic,etc.), operably coupled to the processor 810.

In one exemplary implementation, the device 800 comprises a singlehousing encompassing a weight scale 806, the processor 810, and thestorage block 812. In some variants, the device 800 further comprises awireless input/output interface (e.g., the interface block 818). Afeeding tray 804 is disposed on top of the device 800 using any of themechanisms described herein, or houses the entire device 802 asdescribed herein.

In another implementation, the device 800 comprises a weight scalemodule and input/output interface module. In one implementation, theelectronic scale module houses the processor and wireless networkinterface, comprising, e.g., a portion of the interface block 818 ofFIG. 2. In one variant, the device 800 is coupled to the input/outputmodule via a digital wired interface (e.g., serial, USB, Ethernet, I2C,or any other applicable interface). In other variants, the input/outputinterface module is connected to the device 800 via a wireless interface(e.g., WiFi, IR-DA, Bluetooth, etc.). In still another variant, theinput/output interface module is connected to the device via thewireless interface. In one variant, the input/output interface modulecomprises a display unit and input interface (e.g., the buttons). Inother variants, the display unit comprises a touch sensitive interfacethereby providing input functionality. In another variant (not shown),the display unit comprises LED. In another implementation, the processorand wireless network interface are embodied within the input/outputmodule.

In some variants, the nonvolatile storage 812 is embodied within theinput/output module. In other variants, the input/output modulecomprises an interface configured to receive a removable nonvolatilestorage module (e.g., a USB flash drive, secure digital card, or amemory stick).

In some implementations, a device 820 can be placed underneath a foodbowl or a water bowl, or two devices 820 can be placed underneath a foodand a water bowl respectively. The device 820 is functionally andoperationally similar to the device 802, with the exception of its formfactor. In the implementations where the device 820 is used, it capturesa weight over time profile of a food or water bowl. The profile canrepresent a pattern of food or water consumption by an animal.

In locations (e.g. households, veterinary hospitals) where multipleanimals share the use of the feeding station, each animal can beidentified by its weight, weight pattern, food and/or water consumptionpatterns, as described herein. Exemplary embodiments of a system formonitoring the behavior, health and/or characteristics of an animal canbe adapted for use with a plurality of animals. In one exemplaryembodiment, the animals use the same waste container. In such anembodiment, an identification sensor configured to identify eachseparate animal is included in the system. The identification sensor cancomprise a weight scale configured to determine an animal's weight, aRadio Frequency Identification (RFID), a barcode, a picture of ananimal, a video recording of an animal, and/or a combination thereof. Inone exemplary embodiment, an RFID reader is used to read RFID tagsattached to the animals or RFID chips implanted into animals' bodies. Inanother embodiment, the animal's weight is used as its ID. In case thereare multiple animals using the same waste container, the system cantrack the animals by their weight. For example, each animals' weightscan be determined and recorded during the first time the animal uses thewaste container following the system installation and activation. Ifmultiple animals use the same waste container and at least two have bodyweight values equivalent or close enough to each other, it can bedifficult to ID each animal separately. Embodiments of the inventionprovide other mechanisms and methods for users to enter ID's and weightfor each of the separate animals.

FIG. 9 is a logical flowchart illustrating one exemplary method foridentifying each animal, or at least distinguishing between animals in amultiple-animal environment, according to one embodiment of theinvention. The methodology described herein is compatible with anyanimal that uses a waste container for emptying its bowels, bladder anda combination thereof regularly, periodically or occasionally; with anyanimal that uses a food tray to feed and/or drink water regularly,periodically or occasionally; and/or with any animal that uses an animalbed regularly, periodically or occasionally.

At step 902 of the method 900 of FIG. 9, the animal already stepped offa waste container or a food tray or a bed, and the measuredcharacteristics of the animal has been stored by the system. At step904, an attempt to identify an animal takes place based on the mostrecent measurement of animal's weight, which is being compared topreviously measured weights of all animals associated with thisparticular multiple-animal environment. There can be many variousmethods to perform such comparison and identify the closest weight. Inon variant, after the comparison is complete, the difference between thecurrent animal's weight and the closest previously measured weight valueis calculated as a percent of the closest previously measured weightvalue. The method proceeds to step 906 where the calculated percentageis compared with a confidence interval, previously defined by thealgorithm. There can be many various methods for defining such aconfidence interval. In one variant, the confidence interval is definedbetween zero percent and a maximum percent calculated over the course ofthe past 7 days. If the calculated percentage falls within theconfidence interval, the animal is identified as the animal associatedwith the previously measured weight. The most recent measurement of theanimal's weight is stored in place of the previously measured weight, tobe used in step 902 the next time method 900 is applied. Finally,identification is completed in step 918.

If, however, the calculated percentage falls outside of the confidenceinterval, the method proceeds to step 908, where the animal's bodyweight signature is used. There can be many various methods to build abody weight signature. In one variant, a number of past weightmeasurements for the animal associated with the previously measuredweight can be used, along with the date and time of each of the pastweight measurements. The number of past weight measurements used canvary but preferably is high enough to perform a successful polynomialextrapolation. In one variant, 100 past weight measurements can be usedto perform a polynomial extrapolation to the point in time when thecurrent weight measurement in question occurred, and the weight valueextrapolated can now be compared with the current weight measurement inquestion. The method proceeds to step 910 which is similar to step 906described herein; if the calculated percent falls within a confidenceinterval, the animal is identified as the animal associated with the 100past weight measurements and the identification ends by jumping to step918.

If, however, the calculated percentage falls outside of the confidenceinterval, the method repeats step 910 using the next closest previouslymeasured weight, associated with a different animal. In repeating step910, a polynomial extrapolation is performed based on, for example, the100 past weight measurements for another animal. If repeating step 910 asecond time still falls outside of the confidence interval, the methodproceeds to step 912 and uses the animal's behavior and physiologysignature to attempt to identify the animal. There can be many variousmethods for generating an animal's behavior and physiology signature.Such signatures can be generated based on the animal's measuredcharacteristics, which, in turn, depend on whether the method is appliedon a measured characteristic associated with a waste container, afood/water tray, an animal's bed, or another embodiment of theinvention. In one variant associated with a waste container, number ofpolynomial extrapolations take place based on the following measuredcharacteristics: 100 past animal weight measurements and date and timeassociated with each measurement, 100 past waste weight measurements anddate and time associated with each measurement, 100 durations of timespent by the animal in the waste container and date and time associatedwith each measurement.

In another variant associated with a food/water tray, number ofpolynomial extrapolations take place based on the following measuredcharacteristics: 100 past animal weight measurements and date and timeassociated with each measurement, 100 past measurements of food/waterconsumed and date and time associated with each measurement, 100durations of time spent by the animal in the food/water tray and dateand time associated with each measurement, 100 average rates offood/water consumptions calculations and date and time associated witheach measurement/calculation.

In yet another variant associated with an animal's bed, number ofpolynomial extrapolations takes place based on the following measuredcharacteristics: 100 past animal weight measurements and date and timeassociated with each measurement, 100 durations of time spent by theanimal in the animal's bed and date and time associated with eachmeasurement, 100 sleep quality ratings calculated and date and timeassociated with each measurement/calculation.

For each of the three variants described herein, the method proceeds tostep 914, which is similar to step 910 described herein. If thecalculated percent falls within a confidence interval, the animal isidentified as the animal associated with the 100 past weightmeasurements and the method jumps to step 918. If, however, thecalculated percentage falls outside of the confidence interval, themethod stays at step 914 and uses the next closest previously measuredweight, associated with a different animal, repeating step 914 byperforming a polynomial extrapolation based on, for example, 100 pastmeasurements for another animal, as described herein. If repeating step914 second time still falls outside of the confidence interval, themethod proceeds to step 916, where the animal is declared as“Unidentified” and the measured characteristics associated with thisanimal are all labeled as “Unidentified”. Various expansion of step 916are possible. In one variant, a message can be dispatched to theanimal's owner or caretaker, and he/she can apply human intelligence inan attempt to associate the Unidentified measured characteristics with aparticular animal.

In some exemplary case it is important to identify an animal before itsteps off a waste container or a food tray or a bed, for various needs,such as the need to know the most recent activity of the animal in realtime. In such case, the only measured characteristics that can be usedis the currently measured weight of the animal, and the date and time ofthe current measurement. In this case, only steps 902, 904, 906, 908,910, 916 and 918 are applicable, and steps 912 and 914 can be skipped.However, as the animal steps off a waste container or a food tray or abed, and if step 918 is not reached, i.e. if the method is in step 916,the method returns to step 912.

FIG. 10 is a chart of exemplary sample data collected in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention. In this example, the exemplarydata corresponds to an embodiment in which a system according to thepresent invention is used in connection with a weighing scale and wastecontainer being used by a typical house cat. In this sample situation,data is captured by an analog-to-digital converter from aforce-to-analog electrical signal transducer (a load cell=strain gaugemounted on a mechanical spring), transformed by the processor from abinary number to weight in pounds. This sample data can be used toillustrate some of the measured characteristics and derived datadiscussed and described herein. In this example, the weight of the wastecontainer before the animal stepped in the container was approximately22.7 lbs. (see point 1002). The cat entered the waste container atapproximate the 16 second mark (point 1004) and stepped out of the wastecontainer box at approximately the 197 second mark (point 1010). Fromthis, the processor can calculate that the animal stayed in the wastecontainer for approximately 181 seconds (197−16=181 sec=3 min). Thecombined weight of the animal and waste container was measured, once thesensors stabilized between the 85 second and 117 second marks (points1006 and 1008, respectively), as 29.4 lbs. From this, the animal'sweight can be calculated as 6.7 lbs. (29.4−22.7−[compensation forcreep]=6.7 lbs−[compensation for creep]). The weight of the wastecontainer after the animal stepped out of the waste container wasmeasured as approximately 23.1 lbs. (at point 1012). From this, theweight of the waste can be calculated as approximately 0.4 lbs(23.1−22.7-[compensation for creep]=0.4 lbs−[compensation for creep]=0.4lbs−0.0015 lbs/s*180 sec=0.4−0.27=0.13 lb=˜2 oz).

Embodiments of the invention may also be used to enable animals' ownersand caretakers (hereafter “users”) to create online accounts. The systemcan be configured so that users can create personal accounts forthemselves and, under their account, accounts for each animal in theuser's ownership.

In one embodiment, owners and caretakers of animals of similarcharacteristics, including, but not limited to species, breed, gender,age or range of ages, geographical location, and/or a combinationthereof, can be introduced to each other online. As soon as a new useris in the process of creating a user account and entering the animalinformation as described herein, the algorithms can be configured tosearch the database for users with animals of similar characteristics,and offer the new user the opportunity to befriend the users withanimals of similar characteristics. The new user can be given the choiceof accepting all of these friend suggestions or the new user can narrowdown the friend suggestions to a reduced set, based on wider set ofcharacteristics as described herein, up to rejecting all friendsuggestions. The new user can be given the option of whether or not theyreceive these friend suggestions. One benefit of befriending othersystem users is the sharing observation, questions, comments, and/orconcerns based on the measured characteristics and derived data of theiranimals, and furthermore, if desired, sharing the actual measuredcharacteristics and derived data with other users.

In various embodiments, users can be given the option of setting up apersonal page for themselves, and for their animal or animals includingvarious media, such as, but not limited to pictures, videos, audios,blogs, posts, comments, and/or a combination thereof. In otherembodiments, users can be allowed to post comments on pages of otherusers related to their animals or any other topic, and rate pictures,videos, blogs and other types of media posted on a users' personal page.

In another embodiment, users receive electronic mail notifications whenother users visit their page and post a comment or rate pictures,videos, blogs and other types of media posted on users' personal page;users will be enabled to designate their pages as “public” to allow anyuser access said pages, as “friends only” to allow only users whobefriended them to assess said pages, or as “private” to not allow anyuser to assess said pages.

In another embodiment, a public forum is available to registered user,where each user could start a new discussion or post a comment onexisting discussion.

In another embodiment, users receive electronic mail updates about theirpersonal account and bout their animal's account or animals' accounts.In this embodiment, said electronic mail updates are sent automatically,regularly and periodically, and a user can adjust the periodicityincluding, but not limited to, one time a year, one time every six,four, three or one months, one time every one or two weeks, one timeevery six, five, four, three, two or one days; or the user can disablesaid updates from being sent. In this embodiment, said electronic mailupdates can include variety of information, including, but not limitedto, statistical data on the animal's health, behavior andcharacteristics for the period of choice, such as averages, medians,maximums and minimums of the measured characteristics and derived data,information about changes, trends, variations in the measuredcharacteristics and derived data, predictions, recommendations, and acombination thereof.

In another embodiment user provides information that allows to calculateexact or approximate age of an animal. Said information including, butnot limited to, animal's date of birth or month and year of birth,animal's exact or approximate age in year, months, week, days, animal'sdate of adoption and exact or approximate age at the time of theadoption, animal's species, breed, gender, or a combination thereof. Inthis embodiment, an actual growth chart of the animal is generated asanimal's weight plotted against date of measurement, and said actualgrowth chart of the animal is superimposed with an ideal growth chart ofan animal of same species, breed and gender, as provided byveterinarians or scientists; said ideal growth chart shows recommendedboundaries as a chart of the minimum and the maximum weight at eachanimal's age from birth until approximately 48 weeks of age. In thisembodiment, the user can elect to receive automated alerts in variousconditions, including, but not limited to, changes, trends or variationsin the actual growth rate of the animal, deviation of the actual growthrate of the animal from said ideal growth rate of an animal of samespecies, breed and gender, actual weight of the animal approaching orexceeding maximum recommended weight of an animal of same species, breedand gender at the animal's age, actual weight of the animal approachingor dropping below minimum recommended weight of an animal of samespecies, breed and gender at the animal's age, and a combinationthereof.

In another embodiment, user can create, write, upload custom labels,notes, or pictures, and assign them to a particular date. In oneexample, if a user switched the animal to new diet on May-18, 2012, theuser writes a note “Gracie started on Royal Canin Ultra Light” andassigns the “May-18, 2012” date in any acceptable date format. In thisexample, the note serves as a tracking point to assess animal'sphysiological, behavioral, health or characteristic changes followingswitching the animal to a different food. In another example, the animalcan be switched to a different food regiment, while continuing consumingsame food. In this example, the user can elect to set up a specificalert about animal's body weight changes, including, but not limited to,the animal's body weight dropping below the minimum or exceeding themaximum weight boundaries expressed in an absolute weight in any weightunits, such as kilograms, grams, pounds, ounces, or a combinationthereof, or expressed in a relative weight changes in any weight unitsas described herein, for example “+3 oz.” or “−1 oz.”, or expressed in arelative weight changes in percent of the current animal's weight, forexample “+7%” or “−5%”. Accordingly as depicted in this example, if theanimal's body weight drops below specified minimum or exceeds specifiedmaximum, an automated notification is dispatched to as an electronicmail to a user-specified electronic mail address, or as a text SMS to auser-specified mobile phone number.

In another embodiment, user can set up an automatic notification asdescribed herein, based on lack of specified animal's activity,including, but not limited to, the animal has not been present in awaste container for a user-specified number of hours, the animal has notbeen present on a food tray for a user-specified number of hours, theanimal has not been present on an animal's bed for a user-specifiednumber of hours, and a combination thereof. In this embodiment, anautomated notification is dispatched as described herein, if auser-specified number of hours passed since the most recent animal'spresence has been detected in a waste container, on a food tray or on ananimal bed.

In another embodiment, user can create a custom greeting message fromits animal/s and/or custom signature, such that every alert,notification or periodic update sent to the user will have a customizedgreeting message and/or will be signed by the user's animal. One exampleof such communication is: “Dear mommy, this is me, Munchkin, I justwanted to let you know that I'm doing well. In the past I gained 0.25lbs in my body weight, thanks so much for feeding me so well. Love you,Your Munchkin”

In another embodiment, a custom greeting message from user's animal/sand/or custom signature are automatically generated based on theinformation on user's name and user animal's or animals' name/s ornickname/s, such that every alert, notification or periodic update sentto the user will have a customized greeting message and/or will besigned by the user's animal. One example of such communication is: “Dearmommy, this is me, Munchkin, I just wanted to let you know that I'mdoing well. In the past I gained 0.25 lbs in my body weight, thanks somuch for feeding me so well. Love you, Your Munchkin”

In another embodiment, an animal activity summary can be presented to auser on a remote display, including, but not limited to, a wastecontainer activity, a food and/or water tray activity, an animal bedactivity. In one example, an animal activity summary can be presented inthree columns, where first column represents average of animal'sactivity over a period of past user-specified number of days, secondcolumn represents animal's activity yesterday, and third columnrepresents animal's activity today.

In another embodiment, a recuperation of a sick animal undergoing aveterinarian treatment can be monitored, including, but not limited to,monitoring animal's activity, measured characteristics and derived dataassociated with a waste container, a food and/or water tray, an animalbed. In one example, if an animal's behavior, health, and/orcharacteristics have been monitored while the animal was healthy beforethe animal became sick, animal's typical profile of healthy behavior,health, and/or characteristics can be defined as a target, and aprogress of animal's recuperation can be gauged against said target.Furthermore, in this example if the improvement in the animal'sbehavior, health, and/or characteristics is too slow, slowing down, orstalled, an alert can be dispatched automatically as described herein tospecified users, such as current user—animal's owner or caretaker, oruser-specified additional individuals, such as treating veterinarian orveterinarian technician.

In another embodiment, in a particular case of senior or geriatricanimal/s, such as animal/s who reached or exceeded a specified age, asensitivity of threshold for sending an alert or alerts can be adjustedby the user.

Embodiments of the invention may be used to automatically andcontinuously measure animal activity characteristics, using an apparatusattached to animal's body in various ways, such as a neck collar, breastcollar, ribcage collar, or tack. In some embodiments, said apparatus cancomprise variety of sensors, including, but not limited to a 1-axis,2-axis or 3-axis accelerometer, a location device, such as a GPS (GlobalPositioning System) device, a gyroscope, an inertial sensor, or acombination thereof.

In one embodiment, a 3-axis accelerometer that can reliably andaccurately detect and measure acceleration, tilt, shock and vibrationassociated with animal's body is used to measure characteristics of ananimal including, but not limited to, acceleration, tilt, shock andvibration on each of the three axes of the accelerometer. In oneexample, the acceleration data for each axis can be an array of digitaldata representing time intervals between consecutive peaks ofacceleration paired with the absolute or relative value of each peak ofacceleration. In another example, the acceleration data for each axiscan be an array of digital data representing absolute or relative valueof acceleration for this axis, measured at a constant known timeinterval. In both examples, the date and time of at least one data pointis known, and therefore the date and time of measuring each data pointcan be derived mathematically. In one embodiment, measuredcharacteristics are processed to derive data to generate animal's bodymotion profile, including but not limited to, calculating speed,acceleration, and deceleration, and identifying when, how many times andhow strong the animal jumps in the air, or a combination thereof. Basedon the derived data in this embodiment, an animal activity score iscalculated for a period of time that can be a 24 hours period or anyperiod specified by a user, including, but not limited to, totalcumulative amount of energy spent on an absolute scale, if animal's bodyweight is known, or on a relative scale, assuming an animal's bodyweight of one relative unit, total distance covered by the animal, totaltime in motion, distance and time the animal ran, distance and time theanimal walked, distance and time the animal rested, number of times theanimal jumped in the air, total activity score based on the parameterslisted herein, and a combination thereof. In another embodiment,mathematical algorithms create a typical profile of animal activity overtime, identify atypical changes or trends in animal activity, andautomatically alert animal owner or caretaker. In another embodiment,mathematical algorithms identify animal's walking and running styles andanimal health issues related to animal activity such as walking,running, jumping and resting.

In another embodiment, an automated or user-assisted-automated methodfor identifying or at least distinguishing between animal's activitytypes in a waste container, namely identifying or at leastdistinguishing between animal urinating and animal defecating inside awaste container. In one embodiment, various measured characteristics andderived data are used, including, but not limited to, weight of wastedeposited by an animal in a waste container, duration of time an animalwas present inside a waste container, pattern of animal's activity at agiven presence inside a waste container, namely sequence, time durationand number of each active period, when an animal was moving inside awaste container, and of each still period, when an animal was relativelystill inside a waste container, intensity of animal's activity inside awaste container, time of day of each animal's presence in a wastecontainer, knowledge about previous and the preceding animal's presencesin a waste container, weight of waste removed by an animal's owner orcaretaker from a waste container while cleaning the waste container byremoving animal's waste, user-provided information about most recentanimal's presence in a waste container—whether the animal urinated ordefecated or both urinated and defecated during animal's most recentpresence in a waste container, or a combination thereof. In one example,a distinction between animal moving inside a waste container or stayingrelatively still inside a waste container can be made by comparing apeak-to-peak amplitude of a signal from a sensor or a weighing scalewith a predefined threshold: if said peak-to-peak amplitude isconsistently below said threshold for a continuous period of time, suchperiod of time is defined as relatively still, otherwise such period oftime is defined as active. In this example, the intensity of animal'sactivity inside a waste container can be defined as the cumulative ofamplitudes expressed as a digital sum of digital words, representingvalue of weight, force or pressure applied by the animal or resultingacceleration of a waste container's bottom surface. It can be noted thatthe intensity of animal's activity inside a waste container variesdepending on the type of activity. In another example, the method canlearn and adapt using various adaptive algorithms and base its decisionon a previous knowledge. For example, if a healthy animal typicallydefecates one time a day typically in early morning and urinates 2-5times a day, the likelihood of the animal defecating on the afternoon ofa day when defecation was identified in the morning is low. Also forexample, if a user provided information that the most recent animal'spresence in a waste container was urination-related, the pattern ofanimal's behavior at said presence can be stored as a template forurination and used in a future to compare patterns of animal's presencein the waste container with said template and make decisions based on adefined threshold. In another example, if the weight of most recentlydeposited waste by the animal is approximately equal to the weight ofwaste removed by an animal's owner or caretaker from a waste containerwhile cleaning the waste container, the method can conclude that thefecal matter was removed; however, if the weight of most recentlydeposited waste by the animal is approximately 1.5-4 times lower thanthe weight of the waste removed by an animal's owner or caretaker from awaste container while cleaning the waste container, the method canconclude that the urine was removed with some mount of litter thatclumped because of liquid urine.

In another embodiment, an automated method can detect various animalconditions and/or diseases early, based on measured characteristics andderived data, alert animal owner or caretaker with a description of asuspected condition and list of potential diseases that match some ofdetected symptoms. For example, some of the symptoms of a disease knownas hyperthyroidism are weight loss in older animals, increase infrequency of trips to the waste container, increase in food and waterconsumption and accordingly, increase in daily cumulative weight ofwaste. All of the symptoms listed herein can be detected by theautomated method. In another example, general symptoms of diarrhea areincrease in frequency of trips to a waste container, higher than usualvariability in weight of waste deposited in every trip to the wastecontainer, variability in an activity pattern inside a waste container.In another example, general symptoms of feline lower urinary tractdisease are variability in any or all of the following: frequency oftrips to the waste container, irregularity of the trips to the wastecontainer, duration of time spent inside the waste container, activitypattern inside a waste container, unusually low weight of waste (urine)deposited in every trip to the waste container. In another example,general signs of diabetes are increase in food and water consumption,increase in frequency of trips to the waste container, and weight loss.

It will be recognized that while certain aspects of the invention aredescribed in terms of a specific sequence of steps of a method, thesedescriptions are only illustrative of the broader methods of theinvention, and may be modified as required by the particularapplication. Certain steps may be rendered unnecessary or optional undercertain circumstances. Additionally, certain steps or functionality maybe added to the disclosed embodiments, or the order of performance oftwo or more steps permuted. All such variations are considered to beencompassed within the invention disclosed and claimed herein.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments,it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changesin the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Theforegoing description is of the best mode presently contemplated ofcarrying out the invention. This description is in no way meant to belimiting, but rather should be taken as illustrative of the generalprinciples of the invention. The scope of the invention should bedetermined with reference to the claims.

Although the invention is described above in terms of various exemplaryembodiments and implementations, it should be understood that thevarious features, aspects and functionality described in one or more ofthe individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to theparticular embodiment with which they are described, but instead can beapplied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the otherembodiments of the invention, whether or not such embodiments aredescribed and whether or not such features are presented as being a partof a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the presentinvention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplaryembodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of theterm “module” does not imply that the components or functionalitydescribed or claimed as part of the module are all configured in acommon package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of amodule, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in asingle package or separately maintained and can further be distributedin multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described interms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations.As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying descriptionshould not be construed as mandating a particular architecture orconfiguration.

Moreover, various embodiments described herein are described in thegeneral context of method steps or processes, which may be implementedin one embodiment by a computer program product, embodied in acomputer-readable memory, including computer-executable instructions,such as program code, executed by computers in networked environments. Acomputer-readable memory may include removable and non-removable storagedevices including, but not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM), RandomAccess Memory (RAM), compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVD),etc. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of program code for executing steps of the methods disclosedherein. The particular sequence of such executable instructions orassociated data structures represents examples of corresponding acts forimplementing the functions described in such steps or processes. Variousembodiments may comprise a computer-readable medium including computerexecutable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause anapparatus to perform the methods and processes described herein.

As used herein, the term module can describe a given unit offunctionality that can be performed in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention. As used herein, a module might beimplemented utilizing any form of hardware, software, or a combinationthereof. For example, one or more processors, controllers, ASICs, PLAs,PALs, CPLDs, FPGAs, logical components, software routines or othermechanisms might be implemented to make up a module. In implementation,the various modules described herein might be implemented as discretemodules or the functions and features described can be shared in part orin total among one or more modules. In other words, as would be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this description, thevarious features and functionality described herein may be implementedin any given application and can be implemented in one or more separateor shared modules in various combinations and permutations. Even thoughvarious features or elements of functionality may be individuallydescribed or claimed as separate modules, one of ordinary skill in theart will understand that these features and functionality can be sharedamong one or more common software and hardware elements, and suchdescription shall not require or imply that separate hardware orsoftware components are used to implement such features orfunctionality. Where components or modules of the invention areimplemented in whole or in part using software, in one embodiment, thesesoftware elements can be implemented to operate with a computing orprocessing module capable of carrying out the functionality describedwith respect thereto.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented insoftware, hardware, application logic or a combination of software,hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and/orhardware may reside on a client device, a server or a network component.If desired, part of the software, application logic and/or hardware mayreside on a client device, part of the software, application logicand/or hardware may reside on a server, and part of the software,application logic and/or hardware may reside on a network component. Inan example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instructionset is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readablemedia. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” maybe any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate ortransport the instructions for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.A computer-readable medium may comprise a computer-readable storagemedium that may be any media or means that can contain or store theinstructions for use by or in connection with an instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device, such as a computer. In one embodiment, thecomputer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory storage medium.

What is claimed:
 1. A system for monitoring the behavior of an animal,the system comprising: a network adapter configured to couple to anetwork and receive data indicative of a measured characteristic of ananimal from a measuring device, the measured characteristic beingreceived subsequent to a sensor detecting a presence of the animal atthe measuring device; and a processor configured to: calculate deriveddata associated with the animal from the measured characteristics, thederived data including at least one of: an average weight of the animalover a period of time, a maximum weight of the animal over a period oftime, a minimum weight of the animal over a period of time, average,maximum and/or minimum rates of food and/or water consumption, expressedin weight of food and/or water consumed per unit of time, a cumulativeduration of time between each detection of the presence of the animaland departure of the animal, and an average time interval betweeninstances where presence of the animal is detected; compare either themeasured characteristic or the derived data to threshold alert data, andsend, via the network adapter, an alert associated with the animal to bedisplayed on a remote display when the measured characteristic orderived data crosses the threshold alert data.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the network adapter further receives data to identify the animalas a specific animal from a plurality of animals after presence of theanimal is detected.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the measuredcharacteristic is selected from the group consisting of: the animal'sweight, a weight of the animal's waste, a weight of a platform beforethe presence of the animal was detected, a combined weight of theplatform and the animal after the presence of the animal was detected, aweight of the platform after the departure of the animal was detected, aweight of food consumed by the animal, a weight of water consumed by theanimal, a date when presence of the animal is detected, a time whenpresence of the animal is detected, a time when departure of the animalis detected, a duration of time between detection of the presence of theanimal and the departure of the animal, a duration of time the animalwas consuming food, a duration of time the animal was consuming water,and a duration of time the animal was urinating and/or defecating. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the derived data further includes atleast one of: a daily frequency with which presence of the animal isdetected, a cumulative weight of the animal's waste over a period oftime, a cumulative weight of food consumed by the animal over a periodof time, a cumulative weight of water consumed by the animal over aperiod of time, a cumulative number of times the presence of the animalis detected over a period of time, an amount of time since the last timepresence of the animal is detected, and an average time interval over aperiod of time between instances where presence of animal is detected.5. The system of claim 1 further comprising the sensor and the measuringdevice.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the derived data furtherincludes a rate of change of the animal's body weight over time and thealert is sent in response to the rate of change exceeding a maximum rateor falling below a minimum rate.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein theprocessor generates a growth chart plotting the derived rate of changedata against an ideal growth chart for an animal of a same species,breed or gender as the animal.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein themaximum rate of change and the minimum rate of change are user defined.9. The system of claim 1, wherein the network adapter is furtherconfigured to send the received data indicative of the measuredcharacteristic to remote cloud storage for storage.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising a local storage device configured to storethe received data indicative of the measured characteristic.
 11. Amethod for monitoring the behavior of an animal, the method comprising:receiving data indicative of a measured characteristic of an animal froma measuring device, the measured characteristic being receivedsubsequent to a sensor detecting a presence of the animal at themeasuring device; sending the received data indicative of the measuredcharacteristic to a storage device for storage; calculating derived dataassociated with the animal from the measured characteristics, thederived data including at least one of: an average weight of the animalover a period of time, a maximum weight of the animal over a period oftime, a minimum weight of the animal over a period of time, average,maximum and/or minimum rates of food and/or water consumption, expressedin weight of food and/or water consumed per unit of time, a cumulativeduration of time between each detection of the presence of the animaland departure of the animal, and an average time interval betweeninstances where presence of the animal is detected; comparing either themeasured characteristic or the derived data to threshold alert data, andsending, via a network, an alert associated with the animal to bedisplayed on a remote display when the measured characteristic orderived data crosses the threshold alert data.
 12. The method of claim11, further comprising identifying the animal as a specific animal froma plurality of animals after presence of the animal is detected.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the measured characteristic is selected fromthe group consisting of: the animal's weight, a weight of the animal'swaste, a weight of a platform before the presence of the animal wasdetected, a combined weight of the platform and the animal after thepresence of the animal was detected, a weight of a platform after thedeparture of the animal was detected, a weight of food consumed by theanimal, a weight of water consumed by the animal, a date when presenceof the animal is detected, a time when presence of the animal isdetected, a time when departure of the animal is detected, a duration oftime between detection of the presence of the animal and the departureof the animal, a duration of time the animal was consuming food, aduration of time the animal was consuming water, and a duration of timethe animal was urinating and/or defecating.
 14. The method of claim 11,wherein the derived data further includes at least one of: a dailyfrequency with which presence of the animal is detected; a cumulativeweight of the animal's waste over a period of time; a cumulative weightof food consumed by the animal over a period of time; a cumulativeweight of water consumed by the animal over a period of time; acumulative number of times the presence of the animal is detected over aperiod of time; an amount of time since the last time presence of theanimal is detected; and an average time interval over a period of timebetween instances where presence of animal is detected.
 15. The methodof claim 11, further comprising: receiving or generating an indicationof a maintenance event associated with the measuring device, whereinsending the alert comprises at least one of: sending the alert when acumulative weight of waste exceeds a maximum amount, sending the alertwhen a threshold amount of time is exceeded without receiving theindication of the maintenance event, sending the alert after a number oftimes that the presence of the animal is detected over a period of timeexceeds a maximum, sending the alert with an indication to perform acleaning of a waste container, sending the alert with an indication toremove animal waste from the waste container, sending the alert with anindication to add litter to the waste container, sending the alert withan indication to add water to a water container, sending the alert withan indication to add food to a food container, and sending the alertwhen an amount of time between two consecutive detections of thepresence of the animal exceeds a maximum time.
 16. The method of claim11, wherein sending the alert comprises at least one of: sending thealert when the derived data indicates that improvement in the animal'shealth is slower than a minimum rate, sending the alert when the deriveddata indicates that the improvement in the animal's health is slowing,and sending the alert when the derived data indicates that theimprovement in the animal's health has stalled.
 17. The method of claim11, further comprising: using the derived data to detect a presence of asuspected disease in the animal; and sending the alert with anindication of the suspected disease upon detecting the presence of thesuspected disease.
 18. An apparatus for measuring a characteristic of ananimal, the apparatus comprising: a measuring device for measuring thecharacteristic of the animal; a sensor for detecting the presence of theanimal at the measuring device; wherein the measuring device isconfigured to send the measured characteristic to a storage device forstorage and to a processor configured to calculate derived dataassociated with the animal from the measured characteristic, compareeither the measured characteristic or the derived data to thresholdalert data, and send an alert associated with the animal to be displayedon a remote display when the measured characteristic or derived datacrosses the threshold alert data, the derived data including at leastone of: an average weight of the animal over a period of time, a maximumweight of the animal over a period of time, a minimum weight of theanimal over a period of time, average, maximum and/or minimum rates offood and/or water consumption, expressed in weight of food and/or waterconsumed per unit of time, a cumulative duration of time between eachdetection of the presence of the animal and departure of the animal, andan average time interval between instances where presence of the animalis detected.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a networkadapter configured to couple to a network and wherein the storage deviceis remote cloud storage and the network adapter is configured to sendthe measured data to the remote cloud storage via the network.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 18, further comprising a network adapter configuredto couple to a network and wherein the processor is remote from theapparatus and the network adapter is configured to send the measureddata to the remote processor via the network.
 21. The apparatus of claim18, further comprising the storage device.
 22. The apparatus of claim18, further comprising the processor.